Subject: [PATCH RFC v8 12/24] mm: kpkeys: Protect regular page tables

From: Kevin Brodsky <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 May 2026 12:16:01 +0100

If the kpkeys_hardened_pgtables feature is enabled, page table pages
(PTPs) should be protected by modifying the linear mapping to map
them with a privileged pkey (KPKEYS_PKEY_PGTABLES). This patch
introduces a new page allocator for that purpose:

* kpkeys_pgtable_alloc() allocates a new PTP and sets the linear
  mapping to KPKEYS_PKEY_PGTABLES for that page

* kpkeys_pgtable_free() frees such a PTP and restores the linear
  mapping to the default pkey

This interface is then hooked into pagetable_alloc() and
pagetable_free(), protecting all page tables created once the buddy
allocator is available. Early page tables are allocated in other
ways and will be protected in subsequent patches.

This implementation of kpkeys_pgtable_{alloc,free}() is minimal and
relies on the linear map being fully PTE-mapped - otherwise
calling set_memory_pkey() on a single page may result in splitting a
block mapping, which in turn requires allocating a new PTP. A more
elaborate implementation could be added later to handle this
situation.

Signed-off-by: Kevin Brodsky <[email-masked]>
---
 include/linux/kpkeys.h        | 10 +++++++++
 include/linux/mm.h            | 14 +++++++++++--
 mm/kpkeys_hardened_pgtables.c | 47 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/kpkeys.h b/include/linux/kpkeys.h
index d413a17f8882..c7529f9e9f97 100644
--- a/include/linux/kpkeys.h
+++ b/include/linux/kpkeys.h
@@ -135,6 +135,9 @@ static inline bool kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_early_enabled(void)
 	return arch_supports_kpkeys_early();
 }
 
+struct page *kpkeys_pgtable_alloc(gfp_t gfp, unsigned int order);
+void kpkeys_pgtable_free(struct page *page, unsigned int order);
+
 /*
  * Should be called from mem_init(): as soon as the buddy allocator becomes
  * available and before any call to pagetable_alloc().
@@ -153,6 +156,13 @@ static inline bool kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_early_enabled(void)
 	return false;
 }
 
+static inline struct page *kpkeys_pgtable_alloc(gfp_t gfp, unsigned int order)
+{
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+static inline void kpkeys_pgtable_free(struct page *page, unsigned int order) {}
+
 static inline void kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_init(void) {}
 
 #endif /* CONFIG_KPKEYS_HARDENED_PGTABLES */
diff --git a/include/linux/mm.h b/include/linux/mm.h
index af23453e9dbd..7b95b2351763 100644
--- a/include/linux/mm.h
+++ b/include/linux/mm.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 #include <linux/bitmap.h>
 #include <linux/bitops.h>
 #include <linux/iommu-debug-pagealloc.h>
+#include <linux/kpkeys.h>
 
 struct mempolicy;
 struct anon_vma;
@@ -3648,7 +3649,12 @@ static inline bool ptdesc_test_kernel(const struct ptdesc *ptdesc)
  */
 static inline struct ptdesc *pagetable_alloc_noprof(gfp_t gfp, unsigned int order)
 {
-	struct page *page = alloc_pages_noprof(gfp | __GFP_COMP, order);
+	struct page *page;
+
+	if (kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_enabled())
+		page = kpkeys_pgtable_alloc(gfp | __GFP_COMP, order);
+	else
+		page = alloc_pages_noprof(gfp | __GFP_COMP, order);
 
 	return page_ptdesc(page);
 }
@@ -3657,8 +3663,12 @@ static inline struct ptdesc *pagetable_alloc_noprof(gfp_t gfp, unsigned int orde
 static inline void __pagetable_free(struct ptdesc *pt)
 {
 	struct page *page = ptdesc_page(pt);
+	unsigned int order = compound_order(page);
 
-	__free_pages(page, compound_order(page));
+	if (kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_enabled())
+		kpkeys_pgtable_free(page, order);
+	else
+		__free_pages(page, order);
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ASYNC_KERNEL_PGTABLE_FREE
diff --git a/mm/kpkeys_hardened_pgtables.c b/mm/kpkeys_hardened_pgtables.c
index 763f267bbfe4..fff7e2a64b64 100644
--- a/mm/kpkeys_hardened_pgtables.c
+++ b/mm/kpkeys_hardened_pgtables.c
@@ -1,12 +1,59 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
 #include <linux/kpkeys.h>
 #include <linux/mm.h>
+#include <linux/set_memory.h>
 
 #include <kunit/visibility.h>
 
 __ro_after_init DEFINE_STATIC_KEY_FALSE(kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_key);
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_IF_KUNIT(kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_key);
 
+static int set_pkey_pgtable(struct page *page, unsigned int nr_pages)
+{
+	unsigned long addr = (unsigned long)page_address(page);
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = set_memory_pkey(addr, nr_pages, KPKEYS_PKEY_PGTABLES);
+
+	WARN_ON(ret);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+static int set_pkey_default(struct page *page, unsigned int nr_pages)
+{
+	unsigned long addr = (unsigned long)page_address(page);
+	int ret;
+
+	ret = set_memory_pkey(addr, nr_pages, KPKEYS_PKEY_DEFAULT);
+
+	WARN_ON(ret);
+	return ret;
+}
+
+struct page *kpkeys_pgtable_alloc(gfp_t gfp, unsigned int order)
+{
+	struct page *page;
+	int ret;
+
+	page = alloc_pages_noprof(gfp, order);
+	if (!page)
+		return page;
+
+	ret = set_pkey_pgtable(page, 1 << order);
+	if (ret) {
+		__free_pages(page, order);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	return page;
+}
+
+void kpkeys_pgtable_free(struct page *page, unsigned int order)
+{
+	set_pkey_default(page, 1 << order);
+	__free_pages(page, order);
+}
+
 void __init kpkeys_hardened_pgtables_init(void)
 {
 	if (!kpkeys_enabled())

-- 
2.51.2